Foster
by Ace Axe Hillson
Summary: Lovino has lost his home, his fortune, and his grandfather. He is in an orphanage with his brother as his only companion. During this hard time, Lovino finds himself in close quarters with insane kids, insaner parents and the most ridiculous tomato-loving idiot he ever met to hold his hand along the way.
1. Intro

_Title: Foster_

_Description: Lovino has lost his home, his fortune, and his grandfather. He is in an orphanage with his brother as his only companion. During this hard time, Lovino finds himself in close quarters with insane kids, insaner parents and the most ridiculous tomato-loving idiot he ever met to hold his hand along the way._

_Main characters: S. Italy/Romano, Spain, N. Italy/Veniziano_

_Rating: T_

_Warnings: Themes of broken families, illness, injury, and adoption_

_Pairings: Spamano is not a romantic/sexual pairing in this fanfiction. Side pairings include FrUK, Aushun and Sufin with hints of Gerita_

_Note: As I mentioned above, this story is not shota lemon or anything like that. It is children having relationships with adults they love (as a FAMILY). Please do not pester me about changing the story so A and B get romantically involved._

_Another note: I have taken huge creative liberties whilst writing this story in altering the foster system. I've taken procedures from all different countries and mashed them together and simplified it to make the story flow better. If this offends you in any way I sincerely apologise. _

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**Chapter 1: Intro**

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"Well here we are."

Lovino entered his new bedroom, trying to stay as calm and collected as possible. The room was full of stale and dusty air that smelt of old socks. In one corner of the room, a double bed stood, next to a little bedside table with a lamp and a hand-held clock. An old, cheap wardrobe stood opposite the bed. And single window revealed a measly view of a small patch of grass, and the fence that surrounded the orphanage. Apart from those few things the room was completely unfurnished. Lovino wrinkled his nose in distaste.

Behind him, there was a smaller boy, who was almost identical to Lovino but for a few things: His hair was a light red-brown colour, whilst Lovino was a dark brunette. He was slightly shorter, looking a few years younger than Lovino. And if you got to know the two brothers, you would discover that they could not be more different in personality.

"Lovi, I don't like it here. I want to leave." The younger child whispered, clutching on to Lovino's hand. Lovino sighed, "Well it's not like we have much of a choice Feliciano. Heck, we're probably lucky not to be out on the streets!"

Feliciano sniveled, edging closer to his brother's side. Lovino sighed; his brother was such a measly wimp! Throughout everything that they had been through, Feliciano was there whining and crying and never shutting up! Voicing more than a few concerns and emotions that Lovino had tried to repress. And whilst Lovino could proudly say that he has not cried through everything they've been through, Feliciano had sobbed through everything! Needless to say, by the end of the day Lovino was more than fed up with him. "What do you want Feli?" He asked, perhaps a little too harshly. Feliciano just clung to Lovino, and whispered, almost to himself-

"I want Grandpa..."

Lovino stopped, and roughly pushed his brother away from him, grief and pain striking him harder than any knife ever could have. "Well you can't have him! He's dead you bastard!" How could Feliciano just go up and ask something like that! He wasn't the only one who was having a hard time. He wasn't the only one suffering. He wasn't the only one who lost his home, fortune and grandfather all in the same day! He-

And then Lovino saw Feliciano's face, and realized what he just said. He watched as Feliciano's eyes got redder and redder, as his bottom lip trembled, as he collapsed to the floor, shrieking and in tears.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck. Now Lovino was in for it. He waited for a nurse, for a caretaker, for some stupid adult to come and scold him, box his ears, and try to comfort his crying baby of a brother (though probably in vain).

But nobody came.

It finally struck Lovino that nobody cared now. Nobody had enough time to care for all the poor little children who lost their families. Here there were at least thirty children with the exact same problem! Children probably cried every day! Nobody would care for Feliciano like he was cared for at their old home. Nobody would treat him like a little prince and idolize his little drawings and songs like he was a child prodigy. He would be treated... Just like Lovino had been for his entire life.

A boiling rage filled Lovino's stomach as he remembered all the times when Feliciano had gotten him in trouble, ratted him out. Of course nobody would believe that Feliciano was playing them, look at how cute he was! But now nobody would care about his cute face or his sweet adorable personality... he could finally say what he wanted to say. Here. Now. Not as a child. But as an adult.

"Feliciano, stop crying, it's not like anybody is going to come and rescue you!" This just made Feliciano cry even louder. Lovino almost smiled, relishing in his chance to vent. "You know what? For my entire life I have been treated like some horrible misfit who will never amount to anything. And now... now you're in the same boat as me! Nobody cares now Feliciano! And you've been thrown into the deep end! At least I know what it's like to be ignored, hated; you don't know anything like that! And Feli, you had better learn quickly because guess what! I won't be able to protect you because we will be SEPERATED!"

Feliciano's screams reached an ear piercing level, when a loud thump on the wall made them both jump out of their skins. "If you don't shut the fuck up, I'll wring your little necks like chickens!" said a voice from behind the wall. Feliciano did shut up. But his tears continued as he curled up on the ground, trying to be as silent as possible.

Lovino watched in his brother cry in shock. He had never seen Feliciano be so quiet while crying. The rage within him quickly died away and was replaced by a strange numbness. His brother's crying felt different to him now. Instead of making him angry, it... sort of made him feel sad. Feliciano was no longer crying for attention, he understood what Lovino had said, and was crying because it honestly scared him... he couldn't stop.

For the first time in his life, Lovino felt regret for his actions. He didn't need an adult to show him how he was in the wrong. He knelt beside Feliciano, and put a hand on his shoulder. He was about to apologize when Feliciano knelt up and tackled him in a hug, clinging to him hard enough that Lovino was winded and had to gasp for breath. To say the least, he was blown away, why was Feliciano hugging him? But before he could question anything else Feliciano whispered in his ear.

"Please don't leave me here..."

"What?!" Lovino cried "Why would you say that? What sort of brother do you think I am that would leave you behind in this hellhole?"

Feliciano's lip quivered a bit, his eyes where wide with confusion at Lovino's constant changes in attitude. "B-but Lovi! You said that I was useless and stupid and that you wanted us to be separated!" He whimpered.

Lovino blushed; he couldn't believe, that after all he had just said, Feliciano was worried about them being separated. If he was in that his place he would never forgive him, at least be angry. But then again, Feliciano was always out of Lovino's grasp of understanding. "Feli, you idiot. I didn't say I _wanted_ to be separated! It's just that siblings _are_ often divided when put in foster care…"

Feliciano breathed, and looked up at his brother in relief. "So you don't want me to leave?" He asked, a smile almost forming on his face.

Lovino thought about it. So many times Feliciano had pissed him off to the point where he wished he would just... vanish! But now his brother was all he had left, and the thought of never seeing him again was threatening to become a reality...

"No, I don't want you to leave..."

Feliciano smiled and hugged his brother once more. When he pulled back, he rubbed his eyes and moaned, "Lovi, my face hurts..."

"That's what you fucking get for crying so much!" Lovino said, and Feliciano smiled. As Lovino got up and turned around though, Feliciano stopped him.

"Lovi?" He asked, his face filled with a seriousness and worry far beyond his usual demeanour "What are we going to do?"

"Well, right now we're going to go to sleep." Lovino said, getting into the bed and mentally cursing the fact that even now, with all that's happened, he still has to share a bed with his brother. Feliciano smiled and hopped under the covers with his Lovino, who turned out the lights and buried himself into the pillow, trying not to notice the horrible scratchy fabric.

"And tomorrow?"

"What?" Lovino asked, confused about what his brother meant.

"What are we going to do tomorrow?"

Lovino stopped, and for a second, a brief second; you could almost see fear in his young eyes. But that second passed, and the usual grumpy glaze returned as he rolled under the sheets.

"We're going to survive."

_Next chapter: Lovino is upset when Feliciano wants to spend time with fellow orphan Alfred, rather than him. To compensate, he befriends the wannabe hero's brother, Matthew. To his surprise, Matthew shares many of the fears and concerns as him. And when the time comes for Matthew and Alfred to part ways, possibly forever, how will they cope? Stay tuned!_


	2. Chapter 1

Lovino sneered at the strange grainy sludge that sat in the bowl in front of him, how in the name of the lord was this considered food? He looked over to his brother beside him, who met his gaze with a look of horror, disgust, and defeat. Feliciano took a deep breath, then scooped up a pile of the slop. "We have to eat something Lovi…" he said, "maybe it tastes better than it looks."

Lovino looked back at the porridge in front of him, and wrinkled his nose. "I'd rather starve than eat this shit" he said, pushing his bowl away from him.

"I'll take that then" said a voice and Lovino looked up just in time to see his gruel taken away right in front of him by a kid. He looked only a year or so older than Lovino, with sandy blond hair and blue eyes bordered with red framed glasses. Lovino hated him at first sight.

"Hey! That's mine! Give it back you bastard!_"_ He yelled, reaching up to try and snatch the bowl back, but the strange boy just raised it higher. "But you weren't eating it! I didn't want to let it go to waste! And I could use the extra energy because I'm a hero!"

Lovino snorted "Hero? What, you dress up in your underpants and run around doing good deeds or something? That's pathetic!" He said, sneering as he looked the boy up and down. He looked suddenly hurt by Lovino's remarks, like a puppy that was scolded and didn't understand why.

"I think that being a hero is really cool!" Feliciano said from behind them. The boy looked over like he was just noticing him. "Really? No joke?" He asked, an air of hope in his voice as though Feliciano was the first person to ever say it.

Feliciano nodded, "It's really nice that people just do nice things to help other people, and don't want any credit for it." The boy lit up, quickly moving past Lovino and sitting next to his brother. "I know! I mean, they do get credit for it, but not their real selves. You could be hated by the world and loved by it at the same time based on whether or not you're wearing the mask!"

Soon enough, Feliciano and Alfred (for that was the boy's name) were walking away together to see the secret lair of Justice-man, the orphaned superhero with nothing to lose. Lovino had watched, unnoticed, as the conversation had played out and Alfred described, with well-practiced pacing and structure, the obviously fictionalised story of his life, and the obviously exaggerated crimes he had stopped. Feliciano was on the edge of his seat, hanging on every word he spoke with awe and buying it completely. God he was an idiot.

Now Lovino was alone, sitting at the table, losing the staring contest he was having with his porridge. He felt a surge of loneliness swirl inside him. It was their first day here and already Feliciano had made a friend and left him alone, just like always. He wondered how long it would take for someone to come up and talk to him. It probably wouldn't be too long, people tended to pity the person sitting alone. Of course, Lovino was fine on his own; he didn't need those idiots pity. But still he silently prayed for someone to come and talk to him, notice him, anything!

Someone, somewhere must have heard his prayer, because it wasn't soon until the door burst open, and a group of happy adults came pouring though. The children of the orphanage bolted towards them, all talking at once about all types of silly, childish things. Feliciano and Alfred returned to the dining room, Alfred with a broad smile on his face, and Feliciano looking just as confused as Lovino was. "What's going on Alfred? Who are these people?" He asked

"They're volunteers! Every week they take two kids each out to a movie, to the park, just out to do something fun. They've been doing this for as long as I can remember! Theirs Yao, Kiku, Im Yong, Mei, and Kaoru." said Alfred, a broad smile on his face.

Feliciano smiled back at him "That's so cool! If we get to pick partners, do you want to go together? I mean- Lovino, you don't mind do you?"

Lovino turned to look at his brother._ Yes, I do mind, don't leave me here alone, I don't know anyone._

"I don't fucking care what you do, I would be happy to be rid of you for an afternoon!"

Feliciano took a step back, a silent wave of hurt flowing over him, but he shook it off. "So Alfred, can I go with you?" Alfred smiled awkwardly, as his eyes darted from Lovino to Feliciano and back again, the strains on the two brother's relationship visible even to him. "Uh… Yea! Hey c'mon lets go see if we can go with Kiku I like him…"

And just like that, Lovino was alone again.

He moved over to the back of the room, waiting for the crowd to die down and to be picked with the others like him, if at all. He tuned out all voices, watching the children group together and walk off in a blur. However, he eventually noticed the figure standing next to him, and a pit of rage boils in his stomach.

"Hey Alfred! You bastard_, _what are you doing here? Did you ditch my brother? That's low you shitface if he comes crying to me I swear to fucking god that I'll cut your little face of yours so you have to wear a mask 24/7!"

Lovino yelled at the Alfred, who just stood there, tears almost brimming in his eyes, and a total look of confusion about him. Wait… not Alfred… despite the fact that they looked incredibly similar. The same blue eyes, the same blonde hair, though this boys hair was slightly longer, but this child's overall stance was the exact opposite of the overconfident asshole_. _"Who are you?" Lovino asked, "And why do you look so much like Alfred?"

The boy sighed in relief, "Oh… you confused me for Alfred, good, for a second there I thought I had done something wrong…" his voice was soft and almost girly, "And don't worry, people often confuse me for Alfred, he's my twin. My names Matthew, in case you were wondering. Who are you?"

"I'm Lovino Vargas… I'm new…"

"Oh, I'm sorry…"

"And _my_ brother is the one that paired off with_ your_ brother today"

"Oh… that explains it…" Matthew looked down, suddenly interested in his shoes.

They were interrupted when a taller (but only slightly) figure approached them. "You okay kids? You seem like the only two left without a volunteer, so here I am-aru! Matthew, are you going with someone other than your brother for once?"

Matthew nodded, "Yea, he wanted to go with someone else…"

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Matthew shrugged, normally a shrug means something along the lines of 'what are you going to do?' but here, it seemed to translate more into 'I don't want to make a big deal out of it and seem clingy but I really am rather upset.' The volunteer looked Matthew up and down, and then noticed Lovino. "I haven't seen you around here before? Are you new? My name's Yao!"

"Are you a boy or a girl?"

Yao looked in surprise at Lovino's rudeness. He laughed a little awkward laugh "Aha… I am a boy… I guess the ponytail is misleading."

"And you're short and your voice sounds like a girl pretending to be a boy." Lovino added.

"Yes, that too…" Yao said through grit teeth, still smiling and being as nice as humanly possible when someone was being a complete dick in return.

Lovino shrugged, "Okay, so what are we doing again? I don't really know what's going on…"

Yao shrugged in return, "Whatever you want. It's up to you; anything within reason for a fun day out is good to go."

It was at this point that Lovino realised he was drawing a total blank in the 'fun things to do' department. "I don't care, Matthew you can choose something, it's not like I want to be dragged around all day…"

"Umm… well… uh, I don't normally pick what we do, that's really more Alfred's area. Uh- we could go for a walk in the park?" Matthew said, obviously as out of his area as Lovino. Yao smiled "that sounds like a great Idea! Lovino, you in?"

Lovino looked at the two. It had to beat spending a day alone. Maybe he would even be able to buy some gelato. He sighed "Whatever, let's go…"

.oOo.

Lovino licked his gelato as he walked back to where the others were sitting. He had to admit, this day had not been all that awful. The park was beautiful, with a river running through it and a little bridge looking like something out of a fairy-tale. Yao and Matthew were reasonably sane people, and they managed not to aggravate Lovino like most people did. How Matthew could possibly be related to that idiot Alfred was beyond him. Then again, he had the same problem with Feliciano.

When he returned, Yao and Matthew were making small talk. "So how are thing's going with your brother?" Yao asked. Matthew sighed, "Not good… he just seems to be getting further and further involved with them... any day soon he'll probably be gone."

"Matt, you know that's a good thing right?"

"I know! It's supposed to be a happy thing! So… why does it suck so horribly?"

"What are you talking about?" Lovino asked, making his presence known

"Oh… Lovino! When did you get back?" Matthew asked.

"Who is your brother getting involved with? Is he a part of a gang? Is he in a drug circle? Is he-"

"No! No- it's nothing like that!" He said, "No, actually he's been spending a lot of time with a foster couple. They're really nice and sweet and… well, they're perfect for my brother."

"So what's the problem? Yao's right, that's a good thing."

Matthew looked at Lovino with an expression of defeat and self-pity, "If they adopt him… I'll probably never see him again. The couple looking after him are moving across the country, and I'm scared that they'll ask Alfred to come with him, and that he'll say yes. I-it's not that bad though, I have gotten used to it. Alfred has had several fosters in the past, he's a favourite! Everyone seems to look over me… but it's my worst fear that someday Alfred, the only family I have, will look over me too, and leave to make his own, new family without me…" Tears began to brim in Matthew's eyes as trailed off

Yao quickly had his arms around the child. "Come on Matt, Alfred would never leave you like that. He's your brother and he cares about you, don't forget it."

"He left me here today! Went off with the new kid and didn't even give me a second thought!" Matthew's voice broke a little at that, he was really trying hard to keep his composure.

"Oh come on! He was just exited to meet a new friend that liked heroes!"

The conversation continued on like this for a while, soon dying down as Yao runs out of comforts to give. Matthew, while slightly cheered up, is still rather depressed and an awkward silence surrounded the trio.

"Soooooo… Lovino, how did you find yourself in the hand of the orphanage, if you don't mind me asking?" Yao asked, looking uncomfortable as he did. Lovino shrugged. "My brother and I had lived with our grandfather since we were babies… he was the only family we had other than each other. Then he died. We were not left a penny and were stuck without any family or friends to take us in. Feliciano didn't handle it very well, he cried and he screamed and he didn't shut up about it. God, he is such a clingy baby- unable to face reality! You're lucky Matthew; at least your brother isn't a clingy idiot like mine!"

"Well… that was… oh, it's getting late we had better start heading back!" Yao got up and gestured for the boys to follow. "Today was very nice, it was enjoyable to not have kids who you can leave by themselves for a second without them running around or trying to cut off my ponytail! Haha…"

This sparked Lovino's interest, "Why do you come all the time if you don't like kids? I mean, you're not forced to, why do you do it?"

Yao looked at the boy, "Well, you told me your story… Me and the rest of the volunteers, we were orphans as well." He said. Lovino gasped, "No way… are you all related?"

"Nono, we were just all taken in at the same time. We were all on a plane, and… well the plane crashed you see. Everybody on the plane died except for us. We were small, and the crash didn't kill us. I was the oldest, and was almost too big, I'm lucky to be alive!" Yao raised his shirt up, and Lovino could see the gigantic scar that ran across his back.

"We were all left without family, everyone we knew was overseas and poor… or… dead. And we were all taken in together. As we grew up, we refused to be separated, so nobody adopted us. As time went on, we became like carers to the younger kids. And when we were old enough to leave, we already considered ourselves volunteers."

Lovino stared at Yao in awe. He was so committed to his friends and the orphans it didn't even occur to him he might be happier without the chore of volunteering. They were like family to him; they all cared for each other when their old families were taken from them.

"I'm telling you this Lovino, so you know that around here, everyone has a story to tell. And, maybe if you're lucky, you'll get to hear more of them." Yao said, looking down at the Italian child. Lovino had no idea what that meant, and the air filled with a silence, not awkward for once, but peaceful.

When they returned to the orphanage, there was a couple at in the dining hall. A pair of men, both blonde, one with scruffy tousled hair and green eyes, and the other with a stylish long do and eyes as blue as the sky. The children were scattered around the room, giving the two men some space but also obviously trying to eavesdrop on their conversation. "Foster's…" Matthew gasped, and Lovino immediately understood. They were a couple looking to foster a child.

Lovino should have considered himself lucky, it was only his first day at the orphanage and already he had the chance to get out of there. However, within 15 seconds of conversation both Lovino and Arthur, the English bastard with the green eyes, were at each other's throats. No surprise to Lovino, they quickly moved on.

Matthew however, got along great with both Arthur and his partner, Francis. Francis seemed to be ecstatic that the boy spoke French, marvelling in "the beauty of my native language!" And Arthur found the child adorable and sweet.

By the end of the day, Matthew was being taken by the pair to stay with them for a week, to see how things would go in a home setting. Matthew was ecstatic.

"Good for you Matt! Have fun with those guys." Alfred said to his brother as he left. Matthew smiled shyly back, "You won't… miss me? While I'm gone?"

"No more than usual, I mean, I'm going around to my foster's too! So it's like normal for me, but more fun for you! A win win!"

"Oh… right…"

And with that, the twins had left the orphanage. Lovino wasn't sure how long they would be away for, didn't care much either, but Feliciano was dying to know.

"Oh! I had such a fun time today Lovi! I wish that Alfred didn't have to leave so soon. We went to the zoo and we saw the turtles and the tigers and it was fantastic! And Kiku was really cool as well he is like, really quiet and mysterious and I think he might be a ninja! He wasn't very good at giving piggy back rides but it was ok because he knew a lot about the different types of animals!"

Lovino listened to Feliciano go on about his day with half-hearted attention. And soon after Feliciano got all the events of the day off his chest he was asleep.

Lovino stared at the wall in the dark; the mention of the zoo had brought back memories. Grandpa always used to take them to the zoo, they would get gelato and he would give them piggy back rides. And sometimes, he would leave Feliciano with a friend and take just Lovino. "Oh Feli, he is a very nice boy, but sometimes I think he is a bit touched eh Lovi? It takes a higher knowledge then that to understand some of the more interesting things about the animals, like you and I have. So today, is just you and me! But don't ever tell Feli or he will just get upset and cry ok?"

Tears began to prickle in Lovino's eyes, but he shut them before they could spill, focusing hard on sleep. And eventually he drifted away into a silent slumber.

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_Next time: There's talk of permanent adoption for the twins! Matthew and Alfred have to make the decision now; will they stand up to defend their right to see each other again? Also, Lovino has to make the choice to stay by Feliciano or let him go off on his own, and when a cheerful Hungarian children's nurse takes a liking to the younger Vargas brother, will Lovino have to say goodbye to his brother sooner than expected?_

_I am so sorry that took so long, I really like this plot, but the chapters are so long and I had a terrible case of writers block. Chapters will arrive more frequently in the future!_


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